You are right on the money!! We are the very fringe southern end of their habitat. Also we are an easier target because we are a National Park and the NPS is mandated to protect natural resources. EVEN if the resource is a very small part of the park.

I have many barefoot yankee friends that love JI and OI just as you and I do. Thanks for your support and for coming back year after year. WE will keep fighting for free and open access.

Thanks for the advice Frank! We, today, actually comitted another $15K+ in rents for next year for 3 homes in Hatteras Village for a few houses next August. Holding out for the other trips until this thing pans out. I am taking your advice and sending off letters tomorrow am.

I keep wondering if they might be better off closing Wildwood, Avalon, Ocean City, Dewey Beach, and some other beaches north of you in New Jersey and Delaware to visitors(or maybe the Audobon Society thinks HI ans OI to be easier targets). After reading the audobion society's website information on the bird species in danger, those habitats may be more conducive to procreation of their species. Their information makes it sound like the habitat for these birds is primarily North - making me think that the decrease in procreation in southern latitudes may be due to global warming! They are thriving in New England.

More than anything, I want to see this issue "go away" and have life go back to normalcy. You are fortunate to live in a unique place where we are able to truly appreciate the wonders of nature and enjoy all that the Atlantic Ocean has to offer. It is an area rich in culture, and one where visitors truly feel welcomed.

Now send it to Mike Murray the Superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Recreational Seashore, your congressman and Senators, NC 's congressmen and Senators and have EVERYONE in your group do the same!! Including the kids!!Signing the petitions is a good start, but contacting your Govt officials with a personel fax or letter is much more important.

As a local who has family being directly and immediatly affected by these closures I can tell you that it very frustrating. In a time of bad economy and high gas prices these closures have been a completely unnecessary burden on our island. Top it off with the fact that these closures DID NOT increase the numbers of fledged birds at all and actually there was a decline in fledged birds and it adds to the frustrations.Also do you realize that hundreds of "predators" have been killed by the NPS to helpthe handful of nesting birds?? Yep, a couple hundred raccoons, close to 200 foxes, feral and tame cats, one pet dog and guess what the predators are still winning!!!This years eggs and chicks were eaten by ghost crabs, seagulls and crows!!

Oh I forgot no ORV's killed and ate any chicks and in reality none ever have. Except one tern check that was killed by an official Government vehicle a few years ago. AND there was one chick killed this summer by humans!! Yeah, at the hands of the resource management and eco nuts that were trying to catch it and tag it.

I've been visiting HI and OI for about 35 years - since a very young age. We now have group of close friends and family which comprise anywhere from 20 - 35 visitors each trip. The single biggest reason we choose to come here is the free and open beaches - there's something for everyone. A bunch of the guys will fish - and teach their kids to fish. Theres great swimming. You don't have to fight to find a parking meter, then walk several blocks to buy your beach tags, find a 8' x 8' free space to put your towell, then wait for the ice cream man to come by for refreshments. We set up huge shade tents for people who want to stay out of the sun. We set up horseshoes, paddle ball, other games - fly kites, have cookouts - enjoy a couple cold beverages. Things we certainly cannot do in New Jersey or Delaware beaches.

In years past, we've parked our 6-10 trucks and SUVs side by side, backed up to the ocean and loved every minute of it - sometimes having over 1/4 mile of beach to ourselves. We've never crushed a bird, run over a turtle, although we have killed more than a few fish. We never have littered, and have picked up the rare piece of trash someone else may have left (most likely inadvertantly). Yet this year we had trouble finding room on the beach for our group due to widespread closures, and were unable to visit our favorite place at the southern tip of Ocracoke Island. I don't know how we would spend our weeks if the beaches were closed to ORV s entirely.

After coming for years, we look forward to seeing so many friendly, familiar faces from charter boat captains and mates, buisness owners, waitstaff and bartenders, store clerks, and others - many of whom recognize our faces if not know us by name and all of whom welcome us to their town with open arms. We've thrown out the idea of "trying something different" and going elsewhere in 2009, but feel as though in doing so we would be spiting the townspeople that have embraced our visits for the last few decades. I know that the 4WD beaches north of Corolla are not facing the same issues, but I also know that we would be losing the personal touch and the "feel at home" mentality that we thoroughly enjoy in Hatteras and Ocracoke. It's like we're penalizing the good people here, although their views on this beach issues are, for the most part, exactly the same as ours.

Id like some insight on a local opinion of the liklihood of further closures, and to ask what you would do if the best thing about your favourite travel destination was being jeopardized. We've signed the petition, seen the videos. It's a major dilemma to us, but probably seems like "a drop in the pan" to someone who lives here every day.